Why is sanitization so important in homebrewing?

Everyone talks about sanitization, is what I use really that important? If you don’t know anything else about brewing, the first thing you should know is this: sanitization is your #1 priority when making beer. The reason it is so important is because if all of your equipment is not properly sanitized, your beer will be awful. We don’t want to panic anyone here because some people do go overboard, but make sure that anything that is going to come in contact with your beer after boiling is sanitized. This includes spoons, hydrometers, tubing, stoppers, airlocks, etc. Then it just comes down to what product will work best for you.

We want to make it clear that there are two types of products for making sure that your equipment is not a haven for bacteria: cleaners and sanitizers. You want to make sure that your equipment is clean before you sanitize it. We want to stress here that cleaners do not sanitize! If you are using a cleaner as a sanitizer, you run the risk of having a batch go bad due to bacteria.

Midwest Supplies is the largest wine making and home brew supply shop in America and was voted the Twin Cities Best Homebrewing Supplies shop for 2012. Since 1995 we have been providing home brewers and winemakers with quality home brewing and wine making equipment, fresh ingredients and outstanding customer service. Whether you're new to brewing, a weekend vintner or a master of all things fermented, we've got all the wine and beer making equipment and ingredients you need. Midwest Supplies has more hundreds of beer recipe kits to brew and over 130 wine ingredient kits to choose from. We are proud of our wide selection and the high quality of the thousands of products we offer. To make your home beer brewing and wine making easy, we offer free instructional videos with any purchase. Open 7 days a week, our knowledgeable and super friendly staff of brewers and wine makers are always available to answer your questions about home beer brewing or wine making and help you make the best wine and beer. We offer a 30 day money back guarantee for all products.